100039 research outputs found
Sort by
The Virtue(s) of Courage in Teaching
No full textAcross many traditions of thought, courage is understood as a virtue of character. But while we may default to thinking of it as a virtue of the individual, especially that of the warrior or soldier, it is an excellence that serves us well in many walks of life, including teaching, and it is a virtue of communities as well as individuals. Therefore, in this information session, USU\u27s assistant professors of philosophy will discuss some of the more challenging or intimidating topics tackled in their classrooms and share strategies, tactics, and logistics for encouraging student success in these campaigns
Agriculture in the Urbanizing Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Views on Water Quality, Agricultural-Related Conflicts, And the Adoption of Nutrient Management Plans
Get PDFThis dissertation analyzes Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBW) agriculture by exploring residents\u27 views on water quality issues, agriculture-related conflict, and farmers\u27 adoption of nutrient management plans. The following questions were asked: What is the level of concern among non-agricultural and agricultural residents about water quality issues in local streams and waterways and the CBW, and to whom do the two groups attribute water quality problems? What are nonfarming residents\u27 and farmers\u27 levels of support for various interventions outlined in previous research on water quality issues in local streams and waterways and the CBW? What is the level of nonfarming residents\u27 and farmers\u27 concerns about their proximity to one another due to nuisance generated by farming activities and complaints by nonfarming residents in CBW? Have these concerns led to conflict between farmers and nonfarming residents in CW, including potential solutions? How do the theories of planned behavior (TPB) and diffusion of innovations attributes (DOI) help to understand farmers\u27 future intention to use NMPs?
The first study used survey data from non-agricultural and agricultural residents in the southern part of the CBW (Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware) to quantitatively explore the residents\u27 perceptions of water quality issues, causes, and interventions in the southern part of the CBW. Results show farmers were less likely to see water quality as poor than nonfarming residents. To address both urban lawn and farm nutrient runoff, utility and tax credits were highly supported by both residents and least supportive of laws and litigation requiring a behavior change.
The second study also utilizes data from the two surveys (non-agricultural and agricultural residents survey) and key informant interviews conducted in Howard County, Maryland, to examine urban-agricultural tension in the CBW. Findings indicate that farmers were more concerned about legal actions against them, while nonfarming residents were more concerned about exposure to chemicals/pesticides. Findings also show that addressing the concerns requires multifaceted strategies focused on education, communication, community engagement, and policy development. The third paper explores the social-psychological reasons regarding farmers\u27 adoption of NMPs to test a proposed framework that integrates the TPB and DOI attributes. Findings indicate that relative advantage and compatibility were positively associated with attitudes toward NMPs, while complexity was negatively associated with attitude. There was also a positive relationship between compatibility and perceived behavioral control and observability and subjective norms related to NMPs
Chasing a Little-Known Fairy Bee (\u3ci\u3ePerdita meconis\u3c/i\u3e) in a Dynamic Desert Landscape
Get PDFThe Mojave poppy bee, Perdita meconis Griswold, is a small fairy bee endemic to the eastern Mojave Desert, known to be associated with the Las Vegas Bearpoppy, Arctomecon californica. Because of the reported decline in populations of P. meconis, it has been targeted for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Here, we present the results of a 3-year study investigating the current distribution and floral preferences of P. meconis in Clark County, Nevada. We found that populations of P. meconis fluctuated dramatically from 2020 to 2022. This area experienced extreme drought conditions during these years, which consequentially affected the populations of this rare bee and its floral resources. Analyses of the pollen collected from P. meconis demonstrated fidelity to Arctomecon californica; over 90% of the pollen extracted from the body of these bees and nearly 100% of the pollen carried on female scopae was from Arctomecon californica, confirming this bee as a pollen specialist. Our data also show that P. meconis likely visits Psorothamnus, perhaps as a nectar source, since A. californica does not produce nectar. These data can aid conservation efforts for the Mojave poppy bee, providing valuable insights on the distribution and floral requirements of this bee that can assist conservation efforts
Professional Portfolio: Assessment of and Strategies for Improving a Middle School Student’s Mathematics Performance
Get PDFThis project explores strategies to help secondary students with disabilities improve their mathematics performance. With eighth-grade math scores trending downward and algebra serving as a critical gateway to higher education, target interventions are needed. The literature review highlights two main instructional methods: the Explicit Inquiry Routine (EIR) and the Concrete-Representational-Abstract Integration (CRA-I). Both incorporate physical and virtual manipulatives. These approaches have been shown to help students grasp algebraic concepts, retain what they have learned and apply the skills to new types of problems.
In addition to the research review, this paper includes assessment and intervention reports for a seventh-grade student with ADHD and epilepsy who was struggling with fractions. Through a structured intervention focused on explicit instruction and visual models, the student saw improvement in his ability to multiply and divide fractions. Assessments showed his scores climbing from below 50% at baseline to over 80% by the end of the intervention. Feedback from both the student and his parents indicated an increase in his confidence and engagement with math
Creating Place-Based Introductory Geoscience Field Trip Curricula for Indigenous Students
Get PDFThis project seeks to produce and evaluate a place-based geoscience field trip curriculum along the San Juan River designed for Indigenous students. The Geoscience on the San Juan River field trip uses a “place-based” approach to weave scientific concepts with the cultural knowledge and lived experiences of the students. Learning activities were designed to accommodate a wide range of learning preferences and accessibility needs with the hope of increasing Indigenous enrollment in the geosciences. The lesson plan was tested on June 4th, 2022 during a guided rafting excursion on the San Juan River for students participating in the College Launch and Upward Bound programs at the USU Blanding campus. In addition to being near USU Blanding, the San Juan River provides a natural laboratory for experiencing key geoscience concepts such as deep time, stratigraphic principles, changing depositional environments, and the continual impact of erosion in the landscape. The effect the field trip experience had on students was tested using pre- and post-trip survey data. Thematic analysis of open-ended survey responses indicated that students showed a refinement in their thinking about geoscience, and they reveal the concepts and issues in geoscience that trip participants found intriguing, such as how knowledge of geoscience can promote environmental sustainability, and how they can teach geoscience to others in their communities. This could guide which concepts to highlight in future place-based curricula and help improve the experience of place-based field trips for Native American geoscience students
Sustained IFN Signaling is Associated With Delayed Development of Sars-Cov-2-Specific Immunity
Get PDFPlasma RNAemia, delayed antibody responses and inflammation predict COVID-19 outcomes, but the mechanisms underlying these immunovirological patterns are poorly understood. We profile 782 longitudinal plasma samples from 318 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Integrated analysis using k-means reveals four patient clusters in a discovery cohort: mechanically ventilated critically-ill cases are subdivided into good prognosis and high-fatality clusters (reproduced in a validation cohort), while non-critical survivors segregate into high and low early antibody responders. Only the high-fatality cluster is enriched for transcriptomic signatures associated with COVID-19 severity, and each cluster has distinct RBD-specific antibody elicitation kinetics. Both critical and non-critical clusters with delayed antibody responses exhibit sustained IFN signatures, which negatively correlate with contemporaneous RBD-specific IgG levels and absolute SARS-CoV-2-specific B and CD4+ T cell frequencies. These data suggest that the “Interferon paradox” previously described in murine LCMV models is operative in COVID-19, with excessive IFN signaling delaying development of adaptive virus-specific immunity
Insect Abundance and Richness Response to Ecological Reclamation on Well Pads 5–12 Years Into Succession in a Semi-Arid Natural Gas Field
Get PDFNatural gas extraction is a critical driver of the economy in western North America. Ecological reclamation is important to ensure surface disturbance impacts associated with natural gas development are not permanent and to assist native biota. Previous studies in semi-arid natural gas fields within Sublette County, Wyoming, USA have shown insects respond favorably to 1–3-year-old well pads undergoing reclamation compared to older successional reference vegetation communities dominated by Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata spp. Wyomingensis). Here, we examined well pads which were initially seed 5, 8, 10, 11, and 12 years prior to our study. We used a free, image-based software called SamplePointv. 1.60 to quantify vegetation on these well pads and adjacent reference areas from cell phone camera photographs. Insects were collected with a sweep net and identified between vegetation communities across our study but found significantly more insect abundance on reclaimed well pads than reference areas in 3 of 5 years and significantly higher family and morphospecies richness on reclaimed well pads in 4 of 5 years. A total of 2036 individual insects representing 270 species from 71 families across 11 orders were identified across this study. A total of 1557 individuals (76.5%) were found on reclamation sites, whereas 479 (23.5%) were found in reference areas across the entire study. A total of 233 species (86.3% of total) were found on reclamation sites, whereas 121 species (44.8% of total) were found in reference areas across the entire study. A total of 67 families (94.4% of total) were found on reclamation sites, whereas 45 families (63.4% of total) were found in reference areas across the entire study. All 11 orders found in the study were found on reclamation sites, whereas 9 orders were found in reference areas across the entire study. Our results suggest reclamation of natural gas well pads within an old successional stand of sagebrush continues to support higher levels of insect biodiversity and abundance for at least 12 years. As insects are the most diverse group of animals on Earth and because they provide a wide array of ecosystem services, our findings suggest ecological reclamation plays an important role in returning biodiversity and ecosystem functionality to a semi-arid and old successional sagebrush–steppe ecosystem
Major Axes of Variation in Tree Demography Across Global Forests
Get PDFThe future trajectory of global forests is closely intertwined with tree demography, and a major fundamental goal in ecology is to understand the key mechanisms governing spatio-temporal patterns in tree population dynamics. While previous research has made substantial progress in identifying the mechanisms individually, their relative importance among forests remains unclear mainly due to practical limitations. One approach to overcome these limitations is to group mechanisms according to their shared effects on the variability of tree vital rates and quantify patterns therein. We developed a conceptual and statistical framework (variance partitioning of Bayesian multilevel models) that attributes the variability in tree growth, mortality, and recruitment to variation in species, space, and time, and their interactions – categories we refer to as organising principles (OPs). We applied the framework to data from 21 forest plots covering more than 2.9 million trees of approximately 6500 species. We found that differences among species, the species OP, proved a major source of variability in tree vital rates, explaining 28–33% of demographic variance alone, and 14–17% in interaction with space, totalling 40–43%. Our results support the hypothesis that the range of vital rates is similar across global forests. However, the average variability among species declined with species richness, indicating that diverse forests featured smaller interspecific differences in vital rates. Moreover, decomposing the variance in vital rates into the proposed OPs showed the importance of unexplained variability, which includes individual variation, in tree demography. A focus on how demographic variance is organized in forests can facilitate the construction of more targeted models with clearer expectations of which covariates might drive a vital rate. This study therefore highlights the most promising avenues for future research, both in terms of understanding the relative contributions of groups of mechanisms to forest demography and diversity, and for improving projections of forest ecosystems